Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Mainstream computer use is evolving from individually managed, stand-alone computing devices to connected devices that access software and/or data via a network connection. “Cloud computing” refers to a computing model in which computing resources may be accessed via a network connection, and resources available from the network may be referred to as “in the cloud”.
Behind a network connection, a “cloud” may often comprise professionally managed hardware and software within a data center. A company that provides hardware and/or software within a data center, for use by its customers, is referred to herein as a “digital service provider”.
One or more customers including, e.g., businesses and/or individuals, may store software and data on a platform including hardware and/or software provided by one or more digital service providers. Example customers may comprise, e.g., businesses engaging in ecommerce activities. Another example customer may comprise, e.g., “Software as a Service” (SaaS) providers. SaaS providers may supply application software that can be made available in a cloud to users.
Users that access a customer's software/data “in the cloud” may be referred to as “cloud clients” or “users”. Therefore, in an example arrangement, a digital service provider may sell or otherwise provide cloud infrastructure to customers, and customers may sell or otherwise provide their goods/services to users accessing the cloud.